Charlestown remains vigilant after Sandy

November 1, 2013

By

CATHERINE HEWITT

Ariel view of damage caused at Charlestown Beach after Superstorm Sandy roared up the coast on Oct. 29, 2012.

CHARLESTOWN â Kevin Gallup, Charlestownâs Emergency Management Agency director, doesnât just react to storms like Hurricane Sandy â he anticipates them, learns from them, and is ready to mobilize the town for the next big one.

Gallup, who has been in public service for more than 30 years, said he first learned how to plan for storms from Hurricane Gloria in 1985 and Hurricane Bob in 1991.

âWhat hurt us with Sandy was once the hurricane turned into a cold core storm, the hurricane centers stopped sending out weather warnings and tracking because it no was longer a hurricane technically,â Gallup said. âAnd that caused a bunch of problems because the things that you normally look at when a hurricane is coming are based on the latest information and the latest information was somewhere else.â

âLuckily we always go 10 to 15 percent beyond worst case scenario we think itâs going to be,â he added.
Town Council President Thomas B. Gentz said Charlestown is âextremely organizedâ because of Gallup.